INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNAL PROCEDURE RULES

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 452.18

INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNAL PROCEDURE RULES

5th December, 1957

GOVERNMENT NOTICE 750 of 1957, as amended by Government

Notice 326 of 1958; Emergency Ordinance VI of 1958; Ordinance XXV of

1962; and Legal Notice 55 of 1984.

The title of these rules is the Industrial Tribunal Procedure

Rules.

FORM A

VOLUNTARY SETTLEMENT OF A TRADE DISPUTE

in terms of the Employment and Industrial Relations Act

Ministry of ....................

The Chairman,

Industrial Tribunal.

Trade Dispute between ........................ and ...............................

Parties in Dispute

Employees

Employers

Terms of remit

The parties in the above trade dispute have applied to me to

refer the dispute to the Industrial Tribunal for settlement by it in

terms of the Employment and Industrial Relations Act.

You are therefore hereby requested to proceed accordingly.

MINISTER

FORM B

COMPULSORY SETTLEMENT OF A TRADE DISPUTE

in terms of the Employment and Industrial Relations Act

Ministry of ....................

The Chairman,

Industrial Tribunal.

Trade Dispute between ........................ and ...............................

Parties in Dispute

Employees

Employers

Terms of remit as submitted by .....................................

Steps taken in terms of the Employment and Industrial Relations

Act have not resulted in a voluntary settlement of the above trade

dispute.

............................... has notified me accordingly and has

requested me to refer the dispute to the Industrial Tribunal for

settlement.

You are therefore hereby requested to proceed in terms of the

Employment and Industrial Relations Act.

MINISTER

FORM C

Summons of Witnesses

INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNAL

EMPLOYMENT AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT

Trade dispute between .......................... and ...............................

To ....................................

Whereas in the above trade dispute the evidence of .....................

is required.

You are therefore requested to summon the said witness to attend

before this Tribunal at the Superior Courts, Valletta on

................... and so on any other day to which the hearing may be

put off, to give evidence and to produce the following documents

You will warn the said ........................... that he/she shall be

liable to the penalties contemplated in the Act and in particular he

may be compelled to attend by a warrant of escort and he shall be

liable to all other consequences according to the provisions of the

Code of Organization and Civil Procedure subject to the provisions

of the above Act.

Given by order of the Industrial Tribunal.

In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires -

"Act" means the Employment and Industrial Relations Act;

"Chairman means the Chairman of the Industrial Tribunal

appointed under the Act;

"Minister" means the Minister from time to time in charge of the

Department of Labour;

"secretary" means the Secretary of the Industrial Tribunal

appointed under the Act;

"Tribunal' means the Industrial Tribunal appointed under the

Act.

All references made by the Minister to the Industrial

Tribunal shall be addressed to the Chairman through the Secretary

on one of the forms contained in the Schedule.

On recept of a reference the Secretary shall inform the

Chairman who shall fix a date for the hearing of the reference or for

its consideration as the case may be.

The Secretary shall inform the parties to the dispute under

reference of the date of hearing, and ask them to provide five true

copies of the statement of case to reach the Secretary in a sealed

cover seven clear days before the day set for the hearing. The

Secretary shall on receipt give a copy of the statement of each party

to the Chairman and cause one copy of the statement of each party

to be served on the other at his last known address. Copies of the

statements shall also be given to each of the other members of the

Tribunal at the same time or as soon as they are nominated.

The Secretary shall at the same time as he informs the

parties of the date of hearing, ask them to inform the Tribunal of

the persons who shall represent them before the Tribunal.

The Secretary shall inform the persons selected to form

part of the Tribunal in terms of the provisions of the Act of their

selection and the date of hearing. The names of the persons so

selected shall also be communicated by the Secretary to the parties.

(1) The statement of case shall contain a list of all the

witnesses that the party intends to produce in support of his case.

Besides the name and address of each witness such list shall

contain an indication of the proof that it is intended to make by the

production of each witness.

(2) No person whose name has not been included in the list of

witnesses may be produced to give evidence, unless the Tribunal is

satisfied that the omission of the name of such witness is justified

on the grounds that the party intending to produce such witness did

not know of such evidence on the date of the submission of the

statement of case, or that the need to produce such evidence arose

after the submission of the statement of case or for any other reason

to the satisfaction of the Tribunal.

The party making the claim or seeking to alter the status

quo shall open the case. On conclusion of the opening statement, he

shall call the evidence. The opposite party then shall open his case,

commenting, if necessary, on the case made by the other party, and

thereafter shall call his evidence. If any further evidence is then

necessary or a further statement is to be made, the Tribunal shall, in

its discretion, allow such proceedings to take place. The party

which opens the case shall have the right to reply, but if further

points are raised, it will be open to the Tribunal to allow the other

party to reply.

Where the question in dispute is of a nature that neither

party can be said to be making the claim or seeking to alter the

status quo but is one which both parties are raising for settlement,

the Tribunal shall decide which party should begin, as well as the

procedure generally.

Summonses requiring the attendance of witnesses shall be

served in Form C in the Schedule, and shall be signed by the

Chairman of the Tribunal.

Decisions and awards of the Tribunal shall be in writing

and shall not specify in detail the reason for such decision or

award, but may make reference to the main evidence heard. The

Tribunal, however, shall make it quite clear from its decision or

award that all the relevant arguments put forward by both sides

shall have been taken into consideration